What specific details make a polo shirt? Rib knit collars are generally used on knit polo shirts. The general weave of soft flat cotton knit, even 70/30 blend, is too soft (even on the bias) to withstand general wear. Some golf styles of polo shirt include paper collar insets to keep the collar upright and formed when knitted fabric is used. Tennis styles might have a lighter weight (7-7.5 ounce) than the usual 9-9.5 poly/cotton ounce weight.

The appeal of a polo shirt is simple. The folded squares of knit are constructed to absorb perspiration and channel it via an upraised collar downward while allowing the venting of body heat through short sleeves to cool the body. A reinforced sleeve and shoulder seam allow easy wash and hang to dry care. In extreme heat a polo shirt can nevertheless be comfortable and presentable.

The polo shirt has less of a custom feel than a general garment made in graduated sizes and proportions. The general construction of the polo shirt is a placket that binds the two sides of the front flat, but supports the stitching and inset of a ribbed knit collar. Pique knit, smooth cotton knit, poly cotton knit or combed cotton knit polo shirts all have this feature. Later the split no button placket would come into style.

The joined yoke of the sleeves and neckline meet the torso area fabric, bound in answer to predictable stress by tapes inside the shoulder seams. Sleeves are generally straight cut and closed with facing seams, the end finish to the outside eye bordered with rib knit. One style of polo shirt is the knit placket joining the collar to the shirt front made of pique or self cotton knit material.

The polo shirt in Western culture began as a sometime casual wear shirt for men when not in tails, ties, suits, or morning wear or fencing costume. Since nothing else in the modern haberdashery or clothier array served the needs of a heavily perspiring, horsebound man who needed a full arm swinging shoulder arc yet was playing in public, the polo shirt was devised.

Informal wear or casual wear polo shirt manufacturers sometimes end sleeves with self lining or turned hems, but the polo shirt style has a heritage of a gathered sleeve end to prevent whipping sleeves in play or ensured fit during strenuous chukkas. Hard riding horsemen don’t have time to pull down their sleeves while riding, with mallets a-swinging and the ball moving.

Likewise tennis playing sprinters can’t afford to perspire too heavily and get dehydrated, nor can they move as quickly weighed down by an excess of material. Tailoring and functionality are important as the polo shirt should not be so baggy as to drape beyond the human form. Banded sleeves keep eyes drilled on peripheral vision and clear of eyelines while ducking, swooping, pitching and running for a shot at high speed.

For these reasons, the knit polo shirt has become the casual wear favorite as well as the dressy fashion choice for everything from dining to shopping to errands to business.